I just bought a Nintendo Switch gaming console and I want to connect it to my old flatscreen 26″ LCD-TV that doesn’t have HDMI.

Even tough the TV is able to display HD-video up to 1080i and computer-display resolutions up to 1280×768 pixels at 60Hz, it does not have an HDMI input, neither a digital audio input (a.k.a. “Toslink”).

…it turns out that the HDMI-output of the Nintendo Switch is supplying enough power to power the built-in converter, so you don’t need to connect the USB-power cable.

If you have an HD-Ready flatscreen TV and you want to connect an AppleTV or a gaming console (Nintendo Wii-U, Nintendo Switch, Playstation PS3/PS4, Xbox One or Xbox 360), your best option is to use the HDMI-to-YPbPr converter-cable mentioned above.

An HDMI-to-HDMI&stereo converter-cable : [so this splits the audio from the HDMI-video signal and converts it into a separate analog stereo (2x RCA) signal, but beware that the output video signal is 720p, 1080p and 1080i only, which is problematic for most HD-ready flatscreen TVs, especially when combined with an HDMI-to-DVI converter] :

This spring (2016), Dutch authorities have tested 230V USB chargers for electronic devices like iPhones and iPads. And the results are alarming : of the 41 chargers tested, 10 have tested ‘high risk of fire, explosion and injury’ (most of these were cheap unbranded USB-chargers) and another 14 have tested ‘dangerous because of missing safety documentation’ (these even included USB-chargers by Sony, Samsung, Huawei and Nokia). All these 24 USB-chargers have been banned from the Dutch market immediately, and selling these is now prohibited.

PLEASE BEWARE !

As you may already have purchased one of these dangerous USB-chargers, be sure to check the list below and compare with the USB-chargers within your household. If you find one, stop using it immediately !

The full list [with pictures] of USB-chargers tested can be found here (Google-translated into English) :

The car stereo in my (rather old) car has broken down, so now I need a new one…

What is the (most) basic one that has good compatibility with a recent iPhone for playing music ?

Answer :

Considering that the relevance of any suggestion regarding buying electronics is always a temporary advise, as technology keeps progressing rather quickly and always depends on the way and intensity of your use…